City Hall moving into 21st century

Wednesday

May 21, 2014 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - The last time the city updated the software it uses when processing building permits, there were no Starbucks in California, computers still took floppy disks and the Windows operating system was just being introduced.

Roger Phillips

STOCKTON - The last time the city updated the software it uses when processing building permits, there were no Starbucks in California, computers still took floppy disks and the Windows operating system was just being introduced.

Tuesday night, though, Stockton took a big step forward, according to Steve Chase, the city's community development director, and his assistant, Mark Martin.

Both were citing the City Council's unanimous vote at Tuesday's meeting to spend $366,000 for a three-year license for software intended to speed the permit process for city employees and applicants, and to boot up the pace of business.

"This permit-tracking system is long awaited," Chase said. Stockton's current system was implemented in 1991 and was already out of the date at the time, Chase added.

According to city officials, current software has been used to process 150,000 building permits in the past 23 years. But as technology has advanced, Stockton's system became increasingly outdated, the technological equivalent of a Model T.

For city workers, it can take 25 or more steps to produce an invoice and three separate logins to print a document, according to a staff report. Permit applicants sometimes have to wait two months for a decision on their application when it should only take about a week, Chase said.

With the new system, users will have 24-hour access on their mobile devices and will be able to track their permits as they progress through the system. City officials will be able to check progress when they are in the field.

The new system is part of modernization of city permit processes that Chase vowed to undertake two years ago when he began working for Stockton. Chase said the new system also will make operations more transparent.

"What we're trying to do is get predictable," Chase said. "We're saying, 'It should take X amount of time for a decision to be made up or down.' ... It fits into the whole notion of government being accountable to both proponents and opponents of projects, but also to the applicants paying fees."

In other news:

» The San Joaquin County grand jury report on the botched hiring process for a new city manager late last year was mentioned once during Tuesday's quiet council meeting.

The brunt of the criticism in the 17-page report was directed at Mayor Anthony Silva, but the full council also received a scolding.

During Tuesday's meeting, citizen Gary Malloy was the lone speaker on the report, which focused on a leak by Silva that scuttled efforts to hire Coachella Valley City Manager David Garcia.

"Most of us feel there have been a lot of Brown Act violations from closed session," said Malloy, referring to state rules on how public business is conducted. "There are a lot of things going on in those sessions that get out and are leaked."

Speaking to Silva and the council, Malloy added, "We as citizens want to make sure you look at other leaks, not just the mayor's. I'm not saying what he did was right. But there are other leaks. I think as leaders of the city I want to see you react to things like this."

» Adolfo Cruz completed a 14-year run with the city Tuesday. Cruz, 51, spent the past four years as deputy director of Stockton's community services department. He is leaving for a job as Riverside's director of parks, recreation and community services.

During his time in Stockton, Cruz witnessed the city go through a boom-and-bust cycle. His department had 40 recreation employees in 2006-07, Cruz said. Now, there are 23.

Cruz said he leaves feeling optimistic about Stockton's future.

"I think there's a renewed energy for the city," he said. "That's the part I'll miss. It's back on the upswing. There's a lot of good that's coming down the road. That's what I'll miss, not to see it all the way through."

Contact reporter Roger Phillips at (209) 546-8299 or rphillips@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/phillipsblog and on Twitter @rphillipsblog.